The 5D Mark III Fix

[Radiating]

My Mark 5DIII is in the mail on the way and you are telling me that I also get two FREE pieces of tape with IT!!! I so have to get ready for this.

They've actually raised the price to 3499.99 to offset the price

And what about the long term as the glue from the tape begins to dissolve and to spill at the electronics? The repair is short-term, but in the the warranty period should not be anything wrong with that, and after the warranty is no longer a problem of the manufacturer, but a buyer.

You do realize that this tape already exists in other parts of your camera. And that the computer or phone you typed this message on also has a similar type of tape. Especially if it's a Mac. God help you if you try to take apart the newer ones, they have tape everywhere. Oh, and your house/apt. That thing has tape ALL over its wires.

LensRental took about a D7000. There basically isn't a section where they don't mention "remove tape shielding". In many cases, its what keeps your camera from breaking by shorting wires, etc.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/04/d7000-dissection

My phone might have the same type of tape inside of it, but my phone is only designed to last a couple years or so. And while it might already be in my camera, I'd dare say it's to tape together wires that are already shielded. Same with my house - tape isn't not applied directly to exposed electrical connections, but to shielded wires or such.

I too would be worried about the long term affects of the glue on the exposed electrical connections. Cameras are exposed to heat, humidity, cold...all of which speed up the degrading of the tape. Tape is not designed to last 10 years...or 5 years in such conditions and I've witnessed electrical tape 'disintegrate' into 'goo' after just a few short months in the heat.

As an engineer I have to say that your response is mind numbingly idiotic. Adhesive used around electronics doesn't disolve and magically find electrical contacts to disrupt - in fact adhesive designed for electronics like the type they likely used doesn't even conduct electricity. Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable. There are different sorts of electronics adhesive but in many designs they actually use the adhesive to hold the parts together in favor of metal screws. Read that again, they use the adhesive instead of screws made of hardened metal because it is more durable. The life expectancy of most electronics adhesive is 20-50 years... when directly exposed to the elements 24/7.

So for a non-structural peice already held by friction, and weather sealed from the elements you can expect the electronics adhesive to outlast the camera 10 times over.

 

[bp]

I too would be worried about the long term affects of the glue on the exposed electrical connections. Cameras are exposed to heat, humidity, cold...all of which speed up the degrading of the tape. Tape is not designed to last 10 years...or 5 years in such conditions and I've witnessed electrical tape 'disintegrate' into 'goo' after just a few short months in the heat.

Holy crap on a stick people... calm the eff down - open up a laptop. They're chok-full of this sort of adhesive shielding, and they get 10 times hotter than your camera ever will. They're not using electrical tape from Ace hardware.

 

[jcns]

there will be those gear snobs who will have a stroke over this simple solution. Because it's not becoming of pro level camera and that it's plastic and etc etc.
Do you know your car door has plastic to keep things dry? And it stays put for decades. So you say it does not go through heat cycles.
If you bought a car in the last 10 years, your engine bay has tons of plastic that goes through thousands of heat cycles and much broader temp range. Guess what, that plastic is still there.
Solutions need not be complex nor expensive.
Ever heard of US Space program developing a zero gravity pen that ended up costing $$$$$$$$$. The Russians used a pencil.

 

[RLPhoto]

Tape FTW! 8)

 

[Loswr]

Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable.

They're not using electrical tape from Ace hardware.

Damn. And here I though they paid some poor worker to take small pieces of 3M Scotch® Magic Tape and blacken it with a Sharpie®, who would hand it to a second worker to blow on it until the ink was dry, who would hand it to a third worker who would then hand-carry it to the service engineer to slap on the underside of an LCD. Go figure.

 

[ttmphotography]

I thought the problem was only on some models with certain serial numbers.

If that is true, were there other camaras manufactured without tape that did not have a light leak (and if so, how not)?

It's not like some cameras had the tape and some didn't before the problem was reported.

 

[mws]

Don't worry all it's "L" series pro-grade tape.

They should have used red tape......


I wouldn't worry about the long term durability of the tape. I've taken apart plenty of 30-40 year old range finders and there is tape holding all sorts of stuff together.

 

[Otter]

Question :

Does this tape prevent it from taking pictures? NO
Does it fix the problem? YES

For all those still complaing, it's time to get over it and move on. Judging by a few of the posts thus far, you have no idea what you are talking about in regards to electrical tap in electronics. No matter what solution Canon comes up with, short of giving you your money back and letting you keep your camera, you're not going to be happy. Canon doesn't owe you anymore more then what they have done. So go ENJOY your camera.

 

[V8Beast]

Can't I just put gaffer's tape on the outside of the LCD screen? Oh wait, I can just meter through the viewfinder or using the rear 3.2" LCD screen in those rare instances where the light leak affects exposure.

I admit that it's amusing that so many people got pissed off over a "problem" that was fixed with a piece of tape.

 

[V8Beast]

As an engineer I have to say that your response is mind numbingly idiotic. Adhesive used around electronics doesn't disolve and magically find electrical contacts to disrupt - in fact adhesive designed for electronics like the type they likely used doesn't even conduct electricity. Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable. There are different sorts of electronics adhesive but in many designs they actually use the adhesive to hold the parts together in favor of metal screws. Read that again, they use the adhesive instead of screws made of hardened metal because it is more durable.

To add to this, with the increasing focus on improving fuel economy in cars, many body panels these days are plastic, and those plastic panels are often held by adhesives, not screws or bolts. In a hot and humid environment where I live (Texas), I can only imagine how many heat cycles that poor adhesive goes through, and how hot it gets in the baking sun with black paint making the situation even worse.

Like someone else said, it's L-series tape, you know the good stuff, so let's relax In DxO's lab testing, I think that stuff held up a 20 pound bowling ball for 20 minutes before finally giving up ;D

 

[Razor2012]

I thought the problem was only on some models with certain serial numbers.

If that is true, were there other camaras manufactured without tape that did not have a light leak (and if so, how not)?

It's not like some cameras had the tape and some didn't before the problem was reported.

That's what I thought also. Wasn't it the 6th digit with a 1 or 2 in it?

 

[jalbfb]

All the "newer" 5D3's will probably come with the tape already inside

 

[DzPhotography]

I can see it on the used market now - "I'm the original owner, 10K shutter clicks, tape fix applied..."

What, you had one of the defective original units? You'll have to knock $300 off the price if you expect me to buy it from you...

No, you have to pay more, those are already collector's items :

 

[bkorcel]

And in the end, the fix is essentially "damage control" to keep sales going. In reality the light leak has no affect on any shots I've taken. I wont be sending mine back in. My time with the camera in hand is far more valuable than two pieces of tape, shipping, insurance, and perhaps a week or two at Canon.

 

[steven63]

My Mark 5DIII is in the mail on the way and you are telling me that I also get two FREE pieces of tape with IT!!! I so have to get ready for this.

They've actually raised the price to 3499.99 to offset the price

And what about the long term as the glue from the tape begins to dissolve and to spill at the electronics? The repair is short-term, but in the the warranty period should not be anything wrong with that, and after the warranty is no longer a problem of the manufacturer, but a buyer.

You do realize that this tape already exists in other parts of your camera. And that the computer or phone you typed this message on also has a similar type of tape. Especially if it's a Mac. God help you if you try to take apart the newer ones, they have tape everywhere. Oh, and your house/apt. That thing has tape ALL over its wires.

LensRental took about a D7000. There basically isn't a section where they don't mention "remove tape shielding". In many cases, its what keeps your camera from breaking by shorting wires, etc.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/04/d7000-dissection

My phone might have the same type of tape inside of it, but my phone is only designed to last a couple years or so. And while it might already be in my camera, I'd dare say it's to tape together wires that are already shielded. Same with my house - tape isn't not applied directly to exposed electrical connections, but to shielded wires or such.

I too would be worried about the long term affects of the glue on the exposed electrical connections. Cameras are exposed to heat, humidity, cold...all of which speed up the degrading of the tape. Tape is not designed to last 10 years...or 5 years in such conditions and I've witnessed electrical tape 'disintegrate' into 'goo' after just a few short months in the heat.

As an engineer I have to say that your response is mind numbingly idiotic. Adhesive used around electronics doesn't disolve and magically find electrical contacts to disrupt - in fact adhesive designed for electronics like the type they likely used doesn't even conduct electricity. Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable. There are different sorts of electronics adhesive but in many designs they actually use the adhesive to hold the parts together in favor of metal screws. Read that again, they use the adhesive instead of screws made of hardened metal because it is more durable. The life expectancy of most electronics adhesive is 20-50 years... when directly exposed to the elements 24/7.

So for a non-structural peice already held by friction, and weather sealed from the elements you can expect the electronics adhesive to outlast the camera 10 times over.

I sure hope your right about the quality of the tape - I'd hate to come back here in 15 years and demand that you seek a refund for your electrical engineering degree. :-[

 

[t.linn]

Furthermore electronics adhesive is insanely durable.

They're not using electrical tape from Ace hardware.

Damn. And here I though they paid some poor worker to take small pieces of 3M Scotch® Magic Tape and blacken it with a Sharpie®, who would hand it to a second worker to blow on it until the ink was dry, who would hand it to a third worker who would then hand-carry it to the service engineer to slap on the underside of an LCD. Go figure.

;D ;D ;D

 

[Tusker]

This is a little off topic on tape but more on Canon’s ethics, I am not overly confident with Canon’s business ethics or even confident that all the people that work there know what they are talking about or have experience. Maybe saying Canon as a whole is wrong, maybe I should say some people at Canon.

I have had troubles with my 60D and lens 15-85. It is all fixed now, but only after contacting someone and then ask to speak to their supervisor and then had to ask to speak to their supervisor.

I took my camera directly to Canon and showed them both issues and they said that is normal their all like that! Rubber was peeling off the grip and said it was from overuse, I am just a hobbyist, and sometimes a month will go by before I take out my camera. Had it for under a year, 5000 photos maybe.

Then the lens 15-85 they originally fixed, when they put it back together the focus ring had 5-6 millimetre of play either way before it would start to focus. Once again they showed me a lens that was just like mine with 5-6 millimetre of play.

They tried to trick me into thinking this was normal so I would go away. Usually I am go with the flow and accept what people say as correct, but I did not think this was the case. I just don’t like they showed me other broken items and say that is normal, so I would go away. I guess I just don’t want anyone that is passive, be to be turned away. I persisted and now all the issues are fixed.

 

[Righteye]

I guess thats one way of using up all the old Fuji Velvia, do they need some i've still got some in my fridge

 

[plutonium10]

I bet Canon Canada fixes them with duct tape, eh?

 

[AJ]

In DxO's lab testing, I think that stuff held up a 20 pound bowling ball for 20 minutes before finally giving up ;D

Suppose DXO finds that Canon's L-tape tape has a light transmission coefficient of 1%, and they give the tape a score of 86%. Then Nikon invents a piece of piece with a transmission coefficient of 0.95%, and they get a score of 96%. Imagine the howls...